LaMona Howard-Smith and James Barnard Proctor were married May 3 at "The Rose Garden" Huntington Park in Newport News. The bride and groom first met while attending grade school in Liberty County, Ga. The bride is a graduate of Malcom X. Shabazz in Newark, N.J., and the groom is a graduate of Bradwell Institute High School in Hinesville, Ga. The grade school sweethearts were reunited in Liberty County, Ga., three years ago after 22 years of...

YORK - Ten elementary-aged aspiring chefs dressed in matching shirts and pill box caps and wielding large kitchen knives went to work making delicacies for the York County School Division's Future Chef competition. Each chop of a knife seemed to terrify the wide-eyed food service workers who supervised them and other onlookers, but there were no mishaps in the York High School cafeteria last week. "They were all pros," said Michelle Knotts, food service director for Soxedo, the school division's food service provider.

For Crystal Gayle, singing Christmas music is a matter of getting back to her roots. Some of her earliest memories of performing include school choirs and grade school pageants. So when the pop-country singer goes on her annual holiday tour -- the current version brings her to the American Theatre in Hampton for two shows Thursday -- she never tires of singing her favorite traditional Christmas carols. "The shows we're doing now are almost all holiday songs," Gayle said by phone from Rocky Mount, N.C., last week.

Virginia Beach's elementary schools are doing away with honor rolls and principal's lists, The Virginian-Pilot reports, because students will no longer receive the traditional A-F grades. (However, under a new state law, their schools will receive A-F grades. Go figure.) Historically, students who receive A's and B's make the honor roll while students who get all A's are placed on the principal's list. The new grades, the Pilot reports, are Advanced Proficient, Proficient, Developing Proficient and Novice -- though there seems to be some wiggle room even in those grades.

When Thomas "T.A." Williams handles a maritime law case in his Callao law practice, he possess a fisherman's insight on the Chesapeake Bay. That's because he was the son of a fisherman long before he ever attended Randolph-Macon College and the University of Richmond's law school. "I worked with my father, Ellis Williams, pound net fishing on the Potomac River. The operation was spring fishing, principally for shad and herring," says Williams. Even as a child, he had other ambitions.

Katherine and Joe Dvorak are a true rarity: honest-to-goodness Smithfield natives living in Gatling Pointe. They have known each other since grade school, when Joe was one year ahead of Katherine at Isle of Wight Academy. They dated in high school, went their separate ways when he enrolled at Virginia Tech and she at William and Mary, then finally got back together after college and were married 13 years ago. They have three children. As one of only a handful of Gatling Pointe families with strong Smithfield ties, the Dvoraks have a different perspective on the development where they live.

When asked what he would most remember about his time at Phoebus High School, senior Marcus Taylor needed only two words: "the brotherhood." During a Saturday afternoon ceremony at the Hampton Coliseum, Taylor and the rest of Phoebus' graduating seniors provided a clear demonstration of their class unity. After collecting their diplomas from Principal Clayton Washington, all 219 graduates also received a hug from Senior Class President Monica Walker. "My feelings at this moment are inexpressible," Taylor said.

Frank Speller asked Herbert Askew the same question over and over again. He asked it just before he fired a bullet into Askew's temple. He even asked it afterward, as his friend of 40 years lay dying at his feet. "What do you mean, I can't come to your house no more?" That was the scene described in court Friday by Elizabeth Perry, a Newport News woman who said she saw Speller knock Askew down and then shoot him to death just after the two men left her home in the 1100 block of 16th Street.

Fifteen-year-old Nicholas Jimenez Jr. has been the man of the house since his father, Army Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas Jimenez, was sent to the war front in the Saudi desert last summer. The Tabb High sophomore has helped to look after the two younger boys in the family, and helped the teen-age girls prepare family meals and clean the house. And he has plunged into his studies with a seriousness that has surprised his family. Each day after school, he returns home to look after 9-year-old Patrick and 6-year-old Larry, and makes sure they do their homework.

Arthur Keyes started his education career in Warwick County's black schools. Keyes, 71, grew up in the North Newport News neighborhood, just beyond the city limits. He walked to the nearby elementary school - a two-room schoolhouse with about 50 other students, mostly between the ages of 6 and 12. Today, Keyes seeks to preserve what those schools meant by collecting pictures, jotting down dates and recalling memories. "I want it to go down," Keyes said, "that we just didn't go along and not achieve anything because of segregation.

In December, presidential candidate and former House speaker Newt Gingrich called for the arrest of "activist judges" who make decisions he says are "radical" or "terrible. " This week, President Obama exercised executive privilege to make four controversial recess appointments at a time when the Congress may not have technically been in recess — including the appointment of a director who the law implies must be "confirmed" by Congress for the agency to have powers. These tactics have both parties crying foul, in the name of the Founding Fathers.

Chukwuemeka Okpo often wears a tie to his job as a special-education teacher at Spratley Middle School. The Nigerian native is used to dressing as a businessman. Okpo (pronounced "O-po"), 60, ran a company for 19 years before receiving an immigration visa and moving to Hampton in 2001, so his children could attend U.S. schools. His plan was to settle his wife, Ngozika ("go-zee-ka"), and their four children in Hampton, then return to Nigeria for work. Instead, he ended up delivering newspapers, becoming a substitute teacher and then earning certification to become a special-education teacher.

As the evening sun slumps over the American Legion's Trimble Field, the Emperors Club awaits, eager to sink its teeth into Wilford Brimley. Not Wilford Brimley the mustachioed character actor and oatmeal pitchman. We're talking Wilford Brimley the tournament-winning kickball team, rivals to Hampton's own mighty Emperors Club. On this particular Wednesday evening, both teams are poised for an intense contest, a veritable clash of the titans. You can tell by the nervous energy on the sidelines and the way almost every player is ... smiling, laughing and drinking beer.

Rewinding the week that was, in which Mark Cuban made his pitch to join the majors (that would certainly be ... interesting), David Beckham brought his overhyped self to the States (where he is bound to become even more overhyped), and Roger Federer ... well, it's July, so you know where this sentence is going. MAVS' MARK CUBAN WANTS TO BUY CHICAGO CUBS Holy cow ... that means Lou Piniella would be working for Mark Cuban. And we thought Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger was a stormy marriage.

Bill Russell stands alone among team-sport athletes. He won two NCAA basketball championships at San Francisco, an Olympic gold medal and 11 NBA titles with the Boston Celtics. The graying geezer, now 73, also writes a winning blog, and it's enough to make us old-schoolers stand up and cheer. Russell is chronicling his playoff observations on NBA.com, and his most insightful entries regard the San Antonio Spurs, who tonight open the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Respondents feel more positive about their schools, the results show. Most Hampton public school employees gave their school a B on this year's school climate survey. It was the third year school staff members have been surveyed on school buildings, student behavior, administrators and School Board members, among other things. The results of the survey, which are overall more positive than last year, will be presented to Hampton School Board members at tonight's board meeting.

Tuesday ends the open recruiting period for girls basketball, as established by the NCAA. More than 70 college coaches are in attendance, scouting for the next Katie Douglas or Sheryl Swoopes. Tennessee, Clemson, Rice, Purdue, Texas Tech and Oklahoma all have their eyes on Misty Bass of Wisconsin. ... In 16-and-under championship bracket play, this morning will feature an all-Hampton Roads duel between the Boo Williams Summer League team, led by Hampton High star Shavon Earp, and the "Boo Two" team.

Rewinding the week that was, in which Mark Cuban made his pitch to join the majors (that would certainly be ... interesting), David Beckham brought his overhyped self to the States (where he is bound to become even more overhyped), and Roger Federer ... well, it's July, so you know where this sentence is going. MAVS' MARK CUBAN WANTS TO BUY CHICAGO CUBS Holy cow ... that means Lou Piniella would be working for Mark Cuban. And we thought Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger was a stormy marriage.

Bruce, Newport News: I assume that your series of articles on relationships among gay people will cover the lifestyles of those who frequent fetish bars and bath houses or the extent of whose relationships is prowling public restrooms for oral sex with strangers. That way, you'll cover the gay population more thoroughly than you will by talking about loving, middle-class couples. Editor: This particular series is about other aspects of life than furtive or promiscuous sex, which we don't write much about regarding anybody -- except maybe TV and movie plots (or stars)

Male elementary school teachers are at a 40-year low in the U.S., but some say the trend might be reversing. He preferred interacting with people, especially children, so Lucciotti, who is 25, enrolled in a master's program in education at the College of William and Mary. He said he doesn't mind entering a profession dominated by women. "Ask any guy if he would mind going to school with all those women," he joked. But according to the numbers, a lot of men do mind. Only a handful of other men are in Lucciotti's elementary education program.